Distinguished gentlement I beg to disagree with both of you.While the Tiger I was an evolutionary cul-de-sac the Panther was a much better tank whose design inspired the Main Battle Tank(MBT) of modern times.
Unlike the TIger I or II which were never used by the Allies or the Soviets, captured Panthers were used by the Soviets and for a Soviet tanker getting a captured Panther was considered to be a reward.Een the British and Americans used a limited number of captured Panthers.After the War the French army equipped some of its armoured regiments with a good number of Panther s that remained in service until 1950.The Panther 75 mm KwK42 L70 was copied by the French in the 1950s and even used by the Israelis to upgun their Shermans.
The Soviets gave a number of captured panthers to their vassals ; Rumanians, Bulgarinas etc after the war.They remained in service until the late 1940s. The Israelis in 1947 enquired whether they could acquire soem Panthers in order to fight their war of independence against the Arabs.
Let s look at the basic facts:
1) weight the Panther weighs 45 metric tons i.e 11 to 12 ton lighter thna the Tiger I.An important factor for a country desperately short of fuel like Germany
2) Mobility; the Panther was faster, better powered in terms of engine vs weight than the Tiger.It has better cross country mobility as well.
3) Firepower; the Kwk42 of the Panther had a muzzle velocity of 930 metre per second versus only 773 to 810 m per s for the Kwk39 L56 of the Tiger.Thus the Panther s gun was second only to the Kwk43 L71 of the Tiger II and Jagdpanther in terms of punch.
4) Production; only 1400 Tigers were produced versus nearly 6000 Panthers which gives the Panther a much greater importance to the German war effort.
5)Armour; the Panther s armour was sloped which gave it better protection than the straight and angular armour of the Tiger I.
6)Combat range; the Panther was able with full tanks to travel 270 kms versus 180 for the Tiger.It was less prone to breakdowns, required less maintenace and less fuel than the Tiger I or II.According to stats only 30% of Tiger Is and 20% of Tiger II were destroyed in acual combat the rest were destroyed by their crews to avoid capture because they were too heavy to tow and too difficult to repair.Whereas a full 60% of the Panthers were destroyed on the battlefiled with 30% only being destroyed by their crews.
7) teething problems; yes the Panther had more teething problems than the Tiger I because it was rushed into production with insufficent testing at Hitler s insistence.However once the problems were solved by late 1943 it was avery reliable tank praised even by the Soviets who found it easier to maintain then the captured Tigers.The Tiger I because of it s huge wieght required more maintenance to avoid breakdowns and could not travel long distances because of its tendency .In the manuals the Soviets told their crews to use the Tiger , if possible, until ti broke down and just ditch it whereas they would tell their crews to carefully maintain capptured Panthers in order to used them as long as possible, To me this is best homage they could pay to what was the best tank of WWII T34 lovers notwithstanding.
I agree that on one point the psychological factor the Tiger I had the upper hand; the fear and awe it inspired amongst Allies and Soviet tank crews.Becaue of it s sheer size and weight which the more elegant panther could not match.
Gentlemen I rest my case!
Cheers
